Live Science just came out with a list from the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List identifying “Ten Species You Can Kiss Goodbye.” The following species have been labeled as “critically endangered,” which means that each is expected to go extinct in the next ten years.

10. California Condor

9. Sumatran Orangutan

8. Ganges Shark

7. Mountain Gorilla

6. Philippine Crocodile

5. Black-footed Ferret (In Arizona)

4. Siberian Tiger

3. Red Wolf

2. Western Gray Whale

1. Sumatran Rhinoceros

If you go to the site, there are pictures and descriptions of each of these animals. Loss of species is, of course, nothing new.

Scientists estimate that the current rate at which species are becoming extinct is between 100 and 1,000 times greater than the normal “background” extinction rate - and say this is all due to human activity.

Check out this site too.

Following last summer’s record minimum ice cover in the Arctic, current observations from ESA’s Envisat satellite suggest that the extent of polar sea-ice may again shrink to a level very close to that of last year.

Envisat observations from mid-August depict that a new record of low sea-ice coverage could be reached in a matter of weeks….

Current ice coverage in the Arctic has already reached the second absolute minimum since observations from space began 30 years ago.

Twelve states, New York City and the District of Columbia are suing the Environmental Protection Agency, claiming the Bush administration has failed to rein in emissions from oil refineries.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Monday the suit is aimed at forcing the EPA to adopt new regulations to reduce oil industry pollution that contributes to global warming.

Nothing is as it seems. The Environmental Protection Agency doesn’t actually protect the environment. They, like the Forest Service, serve as a mediator between the needs of the natural world and those who would exploit it. They are the ones that facilitate compromises. Any compromise comes at the expense of the planet. Here is an illustration….

“Hey Forest Service, I’m a huge douche bag and I want to deforest 50 acres of land for my beautiful luxury condos.”
“50 acres deforested? I can’t let you do that. You need to at least leave the large old trees.”
“Of course! Big trees are good for property values. What about those ancient trees that are just plum in the way?”
“Well, I don’t want to deter you from your work. In the past, trees that happen to get in the way are killed accidently or by unknown causes. We certainly wouldn’t hold you responsible if some happen to die on your watch.”
“That’s good to know. These trees are really old, they could conceivably die any day now.”
“Right, and you don’t want those falling on new condos. What an insurance nightmare. Hey let me recommend a few companies that would take these trees off your hands at a handsome price.”

For the EPA, just substitute “trees” for emissions standards. Whatever compromise is dished out, the environment gets the short straw every time. At least a few states are being responsible.

Switching from beef to kangaroo burgers could significantly help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, says an Australian scientist.

The methane gas produced by sheep and cows through belching and flatulence is more potent than carbon dioxide in the damage it can cause to the environment.

But kangaroos produce virtually no methane because their digestive systems are different.
Dr George Wilson, of the Australian Wildlife Services, urges farming them.

….so our answer to climate change is to exploit the kangaroo in factory farms?

The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to ban plastic carryout bags in the city’s supermarkets and stores by July 2010

I know Sustainability Manager Nicole Woodman, and other members of Flagstaff’s City Council have been working on a similar plastic bag ban. It needs to go much further than plastic bags though. In my book, if it can’t be recycled or reused, it should never be mass produced. I wrote about all this before.
Here is a good cnn piece on the affects of plastic bag usage world-wide.

Meanwhile insane groups like savetheplasticbag.com are popping up in response. Check out this stupid cartoon.

Acrylamides? I thought we were talking about plastic bags. I don’t think our food should have carcinogens either, but this kind of ‘bait and switch’ argument attempts to make one bad idea irrelevant in comparison to worse ideas. It’s an easy way for one to take the focus off of someone else’s argument and then move the conversation somewhere else. AND it’s pretty demeaning to see caffeine on the same evil plane as cancer-causing agents in our food and water.

The following was written by a friend, Mike Hobbs, president of the Denver Chapter for Trout Unlimited. As someone who works closely on these issues, he brings a unique and much needed perspective to the issue of land use/ownership. He touches on a lot of important and, often overlooked, issues that are tied to the institutionalized theft of public lands.

Our unique national treasures are in peril. The US government spends more money than it takes in each day and has been doing so for the past 7 years. The shortfall is covered by printing bonds and selling them with the promise of risk free interest. The average savings rate of US citizens is hovering around zero, yet consumers are exhorted each day to spend and save the economy. Social Security is approximately 40% under funded in the coming 40 years. Medicare shortfalls are estimated at 3-4 trillion dollars ($3,500,000,000,000). These entitlement program deficits never appear in budget calculations. Congress has cut Forest Service funding relentlessly, and new user fees do not cover the gap. The baby boomer retirement wave has just begun and will not crest for another 10 years. Life expectancies continue to rise. Many members of younger generations have never been out of range of WIFI access and have no interest in the outdoors. This is evidenced by declining hunting and fishing license fees across the west.

Politicians studiously decline to acknowledge these issues and will not do so unless the public or the media demand it. This short term mentality spells the end for our public lands. The Pombo initiatives of 2005 were just the beginning. Assuming that congress will not stand by while the aged go without basic needs, there will soon be a critical demand to raise cash. Having exhausted the demand for US Treasuries by saturation and lowering interest rates, the US will be facing bankruptcy sometime in the next 20 years. There is only one painless way to solve this problem and that is to liquidate America’s greatest asset. Billionaires and sovereign wealth funds flush with free trade cash and calls on US Treasuries will line up to bid on property along the shore of Yellowstone Lake. Yosemite Valley will make a great location for an exclusive community featuring golf, fishing and sporting clays with incredible views. In short, the most beautiful places in our country will be owned by economic royalty and the public will be locked out. I think I hear Teddy Roosevelt groaning in his grave. As O’Reilly is so fond of saying, “Where am I going wrong here?”

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona, March 13, 2008 (ENS) - One of the great natural wonders of the world - the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River - is threatened by uranium exploration.Three conservation groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging the approval of up to 39 new uranium drilling sites within a few miles of Grand Canyon National Park.

In December, the Kaibab National Forest granted British firm Vane Minerals approval to conduct exploratory uranium drilling on national forest lands along the park’s southern boundary with no public hearing and no environmental review. It is the first of five such projects slated for the area.

I can’t imagine this happening. Still,

More than 2,000 uranium mining claims have been filed since 2003 in the Tusayan Ranger district alone, the majority of them within 10 miles of Grand Canyon National Park, says the Board of Supervisors.

Uranium contamination is the last thing the Colorado River needs. Uranium out of the ground is the last thing any of us need. Let’s ensure mining is blocked on Native land as well.

Sacramento: The Chinook salmon that swim upstream to spawn in the fall, the most robust run in the Sacramento River, have disappeared. The almost complete collapse of the richest and most dependable source of Chinook salmon south of Alaska left gloomy fisheries experts struggling for reliable explanations — and coming up dry.

Whatever the cause, there was widespread agreement among those attending a five-day meeting of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council here last week that the regional $150 million fishery, which usually opens for the four-month season on May 1, is almost certain to remain closed this year from northern Oregon to the Mexican border. A final decision on salmon fishing in the area is expected next month.

As a result, Chinook, or king salmon, the most prized species of Pacific wild salmon, will be hard to come by until the Alaskan season opens in July. Even then, wild Chinook are likely to be very expensive in markets and restaurants nationwide.

NEW DELHI, India, February 13, 2008 (ENS) India has lost more than half of its tiger population in the past five years, a new government tiger census shows. Crunching the numbers for its 2006-2007 census, the National Tiger Conservation Authority estimates the population at between 1,165 and 1,657 tigers.

At the last census in 2002, observers counted 3,642 tigers across India.

And meanwhile, this is going on as well: Poaching in Sumatra, now more than ever.

Save this picture, so you can explain to your grandchildren what a tiger was. Tell them, of course, to imagine it without a collar.

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Climate campaigner Al Gore urged world policymakers on Thursday to change laws “not just light bulbs” in tackling global warming, and a UN official said world market turmoil must not be allowed to delay action

I’m glad Al is realizing how useless these individual changes are and looking at the bigger picture. I would encourage him to think bigger though. Sure changing light bulbs is not enough, but neither is changing laws. Unless, I guess, they are BIG changes. BIG.

How does Bono show up everywhere like this? What kind of authority on global warming is he? Here he is again!